What Is an Opt-in Form: Meaning and Use in Ecommerce

Sometimes, when you are about to leave a website, a message pop-up or a section will appear.

These messages ask you to sign in or subscribe to the website’s newsletter to get the latest information, news, offers, deals, etc. These messages are called opt-in forms. 

In the ever-changing world of digital marketing, businesses use opt-ins to connect more with their target audience. If you are a budding Filipino online store owner, you should know what opt-ins are and how to use them in your business.

Let’s dive right in!

The Basics of Opt-in Forms: Definition and Purpose

“Opt-in” indicates the action of choosing whether one would like to receive something. In simpler terms, it is a crucial component of permission marketing.

Opt-ins, in these cases, are marketing emails.

When your Filipino web users decide to opt in, they agree to participate in a company’s communication system. They give their consent to receive emails from the company. This whole process happens through an online form on a website. 

Many companies that own websites use this form of digital marketing strategy to create a professional approach to their potential customers.

They avoid making their business look pushy or overselling too much. Their main focus is giving their customers a good customer experience.

Forced marketing sometimes creates a bad user experience. Opt-in forms solve that.

Understanding the Concept of Permission Marketing

Permission marketing has become increasingly popular. One of its best examples is subscription emails.

Subscribing means users are permitted to be marketed to free of charge.

This serves as a mediator for users to choose whether to receive emails from your company. Unlike other businesses that always use interruption-based marketing (e.g., ads that are forced on the audience), permission marketing requires respecting the customer’s decisions.

That way, you give your target market a great customer experience on your website.

Different Types of Opt-in Forms: Pop-ups, Slide-ins, Inline Forms, etc.

Opt-in forms come in different options or ways.

Some of the most popular forms that businesses use are:

• Slide-in forms. These forms will subtly slide in when you visit a webpage. They usually come out after a few seconds of scrolling through a website. They typically slide in from either the left corner or the bottom right of the screen. 
• Popup forms. These pop up on a website’s home page, landing pages, or product pages. They take up the whole screen so users won’t miss the call-to-action (CTA).
• Exit-intent forms. As the name itself, these opt-in forms present themselves when the user is about to leave a website. This is the last stage of engaging with the user and turning them into subscribers.
• Bar forms. These opt-in forms are displayed near the navigation bar at the top of the webpage and have a CTA button. 
• Inline forms. These opt-in forms are placed within the content users read or browse. 

Opt-in forms are not just mandatory forms when doing email marketing; they are the law in the Philippines. Sending unsolicited emails to your users will land you in legal trouble, and some can be considered fraudulent activity.

Benefits of Using Opt-in Forms for Businesses and Marketers

When formulating your ecommerce website design, use a platform that lets you plan for essential functionalities like opt-in forms.

Opt-in forms are beneficial for online businesses and marketers. They create a targeted and subscribed user base, which means that users who have opted into your email marketing are already invested in your website and potential customers.

Also, users give you consent and permission to collect information. With this, you can create a more personalized and relevant message for them.

When opting users to subscribe to your business, know that it will also give you a chance to build a great relationship with your customers. Some customers just love personalization, but most don’t love overselling businesses or companies.

Designing Effective Opt-in Forms: Elements and Best Practices

Designing your opt-in forms is critical.

Here are some of the key elements that should be present in your form:

• Clear and straight-to-the-point headlines;
• A concise web copy (or content) that defines the value proposition of your business;
• Catchy CTA.

Your form should be visually appealing, aligned to your Filipino brand. They must instantly catch your customers’ attention the moment it comes out. It must also be seamlessly presented so as not to annoy the user. Customer experience is a top priority for gaining traffic. 

Creating Compelling Opt-in Offers: Lead Magnets and Incentives

How should you persuade your audience to fill up your email marketing signup form? 

Businesses must offer incentives and lead magnets to attract users’ attention. These offers require consent to exchange contact information. These are called lead magnets.

Lead magnets can be anything you can give your audience as an incentive—webinars, newsletters, a discount code for signup ecommerce, etc. Some incentives can include early access to promos and new products.

There are also other techniques.

For example, gated content in ecommerce. These are content that are only exclusive to a specific group. In this case, you can make specific content available to those who’ve signed up for the opt-in form.

There’s also a download magnet in ecommerce, where you offer a valuable downloadable resource in exchange for their opt-in.

These sweet deals are accompanied by compelling content that encourages the user to take action. 

Crafting Persuasive Copy and Call-to-Action (CTA) for Opt-in Forms

Writing persuasive copies using simpler and non-complex terms is the safest way to reach many audiences. Thus, understand your targeted customers so you know they understand the words or terms in your content.

This way, many people can relate to and understand your marketing promotion, etc. Your Call to Action should be action – and goal-oriented.

Create your CTAs with excitement and urgency to attract your audience’s attention. 

Segmenting Opt-in Subscribers for Targeted Communication

When users opt into your forms, you can segment your market to clearly engage them. Segmenting your subscribers can help you identify their demographics, preferences, behaviors, etc.

Making categories allows you to send targeted and potential customers a more personalized and relevant message. This can increase the likelihood of conversion rates and traffic. 

This can also help minimize potential risks for your company. You should know which products or services are most likely to earn a fair share of the audience and potential consumers so you can know how to promote them successfully. 

Timing and Triggering Opt-in Forms: Exit Intent, Scroll, Time Delay, etc.

The timings and triggering for opt-ins balance user experience and visibility.

Among the different types, you can use these three:

• Exit intent forms. These forms appear only after the user is done and about to leave the website. They serve as the final engagement between you and the user.  
• Scroll-triggered forms. Forms that come out after the user has scrolled to a certain page in the content. This means the user has reached substantial content, and you can now begin engaging with them. This form appears when the user has started engaging more with your content.
• Time-delayed popups. This is the timing for your form, which you can use to time or trigger your opt-in form to pop up after a specific time the user has been on the website. 

Through your online business platform, experimenting with these timings is risk-free. Try them and use KPIs to determine which tactic garners more traction or conversions. In no time, you can find which one would suit your website.

Analyzing Opt-in Form Metrics: Conversion Rate, Click-through Rate, etc.

Analyzing and tracking conversion rates measure the effectiveness of your lead generation for ecommerce.

Conversion rates measure the percentage of users who visit your website and become leads or subscribers. Click-through rate is a metric that shows how many people have visited or clicked your ad to visit elsewhere.

These metrics are essential for determining the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

They can help you edit your messages and CTAs, create a new marketing strategy for your content or approach, and identify what works best for your audience.

Continuous analysis and optimization make your opt-in strategy successful.

Advanced Opt-in Form Techniques

The techniques and best practices above taught you the basics of how opt-in forms should work. But there’s so much more to learn about this nifty ecommerce lead generation tool.

There are advanced techniques requiring longer preparation. They also need greater technical and analytical capabilities – in short, you often need experts to pull them off properly.

If you’re prepared and capable, take a look at the following high-level techniques.

Segmentation and Personalization

These two techniques go hand in hand. Customer segmentation in ecommerce involves dividing your customers into specific groups. 

Your ecommerce subscriber list can be divided into certain categories. You can use factors like user behavior, preferences, demographics, and other criteria. Then, you send tailored messages to each one.

This makes your messaging more personal, which your audience likes.

This technique is particularly useful for online businesses with a diverse customer base, whether Filipino or not. These users will have varying interests and shopping habits, so no one general message will help. Instead, you can send separate messages with more relevant content to each segment.

What are the benefits?

• Higher engagement. Personalized emails have higher open and click-through rates.
• Improved customer experience. Customers feel valued when they receive content that caters to their interests.
• Increased conversion. Messages that resonate will better convert leads into sales.

The first step is to gather data from user interactions in your online shop. These can be purchase history, website metrics, and even comments on social media. With a comprehensive database, you then divide your list based on certain criteria.

From these divisions, you personalize an opt-in form that will maximize the chance of conversion.

Integrating with Email Marketing Platforms

Email marketing platforms like Mailchimp or Sendinblue allow you to automate your email campaigns.

This massively improves your efficiency. You won’t have to manually send your tailored opt-in forms to specific demographics anymore. Instead, the platform will do that for you.

Select an email platform that fits your needs. Then, connect your opt-in forms to the platform using the provided plugins. Create automated workflows for welcome emails, follow-ups, and promotional campaigns. Lastly, don’t forget to track how they do.

Streamline your email opt-in campaign and ensure consistent communication by integrating with email platforms.

Automating Workflows and Follow-ups

These involve setting up complex automated email sequences. They are often triggered by specific user actions, like signing up or making a purchase.

This technique is useful for maintaining regular contact with your customers without manual intervention. With this, you ensure timely follow-ups and lead nurturing, even without your direct intervention.

In advanced and highly-tuned configurations, automation setups guide leads through the sales funnel automatically. All these are possible through advanced software and platforms.

The key is to first identify key actions that trigger the emails. Then, develop a series of emails tailored to each trigger. For example, send a welcome email immediately after sign-up, followed by a product recommendation email a few days later.

From there, you only have to regularly view the performance of your automated opt-in forms and adjust them as needed.

The Bottom Line 

The opt-in form is a powerful marketing tool for building a customer base for online stores here in the Philippines. It is also legal, and by integrating it, you can gain the trust of your audience and potential customers.

When building your new online store, integrate proper opt-in forms. Don’t just use them as an afterthought.

Giving your customers a great customer experience can create retention and long-lasting impressions.

Through persuasive copies and compelling, eye-catching design, you can reach your target customers quickly.